ACCLAIMED Iranian director Abbas Kiarostami continues to drift away from his cultural roots with Like Someone In Love, an odd mixture of Ray Cooney-style farce and Ozu-style drama set in Tokyo.

The film has potential but ultimately fails to deilver a coherent story

Student Akiko (Rin Takanashi) is working as an escort girl. Her client Watanabe Takashi (Okuno Tadashi) is an elderly academic who seems more interested in conversation and good company than anything more energetic.

An unlikely friendship develops and he even intercedes with her possessive boyfriend Noriaki (Kase Ryo) in a frustratingly inscrutable film that fails to engage.

An unlikely friendship develops and he even intercedes with her possessive boyfriend Noriaki (Kase Ryo) in a frustratingly inscrutable film that fails to engage.